On Monday, September 12, 2011, the House is scheduled consider H.R. 2076 under a suspension of the rules, requiring a two-thirds majority vote for passage. The resolution was introduced by Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) on June 1, 2011, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
H.R. 2076 would authorize the Attorney General (AG) and the Department of Homeland Security, at the request of an appropriate law enforcement official of a state or political subdivision, to assist in the investigation of violent acts and shootings occurring in venues such as schools, colleges, universities, nonfederal office buildings, malls, and other public places, and in the investigation of mass killings and attempted mass killings.
The bill would define "mass killings" as three or more killings in a single incident.
The bill would also authorize the AG to pay rewards up to $3 million (currently $2 million), subject to exceptions, for public advertisements for assistance to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The bill would allow funds available to the AG and the Director of Homeland Security for detection, investigation, and prosecution of crimes against the United States to be used to deploy tactical response, command and control, and other crisis-management assets of the FBI, as appropriate. The bill would require any such conduct or assistance to be presumptively within the scope of the federal office or employment.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, implementing H.R. 2076 would have no significant cost to the federal government. Enacting the bill would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
The bill also would raise, from $2 million to $3 million, the maximum reward that DOJ may offer for public assistance in solving crimes. Based on information from the DOJ about rewards paid in recent years, CBO expects very few rewards to exceed $2 million. Thus, CBO estimates that H.R. 2076 would have no significant effect on department spending (rewards are paid from appropriated funds).
